A book for atheistsMy ex-pastor linked me to this. He's getting old so I usually just ignore him, but he specifically addressed it to atheists, so I blasted him for it. It's the equivalent of a stupid remark made by Bill O'Reilly raised to book form. It says that atheists pick "easy targets" of Intelligent Designers and other such believers. I told him these are targets that everyone should be aiming for. If he thinks they are wrong, either he should be fighting to change them within his church, or he should quit churching.

Lausten wrote:A book for atheistsMy ex-pastor linked me to this. He's getting old so I usually just ignore him, but he specifically addressed it to atheists, so I blasted him for it. It's the equivalent of a stupid remark made by Bill O'Reilly raised to book form. It says that atheists pick "easy targets" of Intelligent Designers and other such believers. I told him these are targets that everyone should be aiming for. If he thinks they are wrong, either he should be fighting to change them within his church, or he should quit churching.

If atheists read every foolish diatribe addressed to atheism and/or atheists, blindness would long ago have become a common denominator. And if atheists responded verbally to every foolish remark made about the atheist or atheism atheists would have expired from exhaustion, each and every one. Your ex-Pastor is exceptionally backward: my 14 year old granddaughter, not even particularly interested in the subject (other than "Norms, I do think religion seems to waste a lot of everyone's time!!" ) can make better arguments both for and against faith in general, and the faith of Christians in particular.

But to tell the truth, and regretfully, I don't find the ripostes of many of the so-called "skeptical" that compelling either… and I would be even less convinced were I a reasonably intelligent religionist either…There is no record (or if you like, evidence), that the believing mind responds to sarcasm or insult. (And as you know, I've not only tried, I was reasonably good at it.) One is more likely to make a man question the virtue of his mother by referring to him as a "troll" or an ""idiot/fool/or moron" than might make him then question a god that imposes order OR justice in the universe. Because YES, there ARE (the poor crop who enter here, notwithstanding) reasonably intelligent religionists out there….. whether I or you or any intransigent non-believer, can accept their arguments as reflective of anything approaching truth. But all that means is that "not all men are created equal." There is Kurt Vonnegut, for instance, (to mention but one humanist of the highest order) and before him Voltaire, Rousseau , Thomas Paine (et al and more) on the one hand, and …well… "other people" on the other hand. Leaving faith, god, or dependence on the social compacts that go with organized religion behind doesn't necessarily create a better or even more thoughtful human being…and most certainly not necessarily a more moral one. It creates, if anything, a human being whose world view is more consistent with the reality of existence in the observable world.But what comes after that, in terms of intellect or even goodness, fairness, generosity, freedom from cant, or prejudice is something entirely otherwise…And clearly, whatever it is, remains a rare, elusive, commodity. I do appreciate your sincerity though Lausten…and I hope that you return the possibility that I, like you, am not completely informed by one facet of inquiry: which is to say that disbelief alone exonerates me (or anyone else) from our other responsibilities as members of our special status as the brutes we are capable of being even as we weep our copious tears for those we brutalize.

Norma

Skepticism: " Norma, you poor sad lonely alcoholic. You entire life is devoted to interrupting other people's posts on this forum, regardless of the topic, to tell them what's wrong with them. The irony is, here you are doing it again, with this very post. Your fanciful card games, movie sojourns and exciting overseas trips, that all take place within the four walls of an aged care retirement home, do not suggest your own children offered you the care, I gave my parents."